University Communications

Arcadia University and The Peace Center Present 'Engaging Peace,' March 23-24

An Interdisciplinary forum for connecting academics, students and practitioners through a dialectic learning and mentoring environment

Glenside, PA—Feb. 28, 2012—Arcadia University’s International Peace and Conflict Resolution program and The Peace Center, a local non-profit organization, are hosting “Engaging Peace” a day-and-a half forum, starting Friday, March 23, 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., and Saturday, March 24, from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Arcadia University. Arcadia is located at 450 S. Easton Road, Glenside, Pa. The event is open to the public and registration www.arcadia.edu/engagingpeace is required by March 16 for all participants.

The forum is designed to showcase and connect a broad spectrum of innovative approaches and ideas in peace building and conflict resolution. The conference offers students, professionals and members of the general public presentations and training workshops focusing on peace education, trauma healing and reconciliation, and issues in international affairs.

Friday, March 23, includes opening remarks followed by dinner and presentations by the keynote speakers include Arun Gandhi, the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Director of the Shalom Center, and an appearance by Michael Shevack, author of The Six Fix.

On Saturday, March 24, the forum begins at 8 a.m., and includes five sessions of concurrent speaker panels and workshops along with a student poster and photo essay display. Speakers include Jane Golden, Executive Director of the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, and a Compassionate Listening Workshop led by Dr. William Jacobsen.

The award-winning documentary film Coexist, by Boston-based filmmaker Adam Mazo www.coexistdocumentary.org also will be shown during the morning sessions. Coexist examines the current situation in Rwanda, now 17 years after the genocide. It features victim and survivors, perpetrators, bystanders, journalists, scholars, and social commentators. The film was made as 60,000 convicted perpetrators were being released from prison back into the communities where they pillaged and raped and murdered.The film’s director Mazo and the author of the Coexist Viewer's Guide Mishy Lesser will screen the film and offer a workshop.

The keynote speaker at Saturday’s lunch program features Charles Eisenstein, author of Sacred Economics.

Undergraduate and graduate student research panels for paper presentations take place during the afternoon sessions on March 24.

About The Peace Center: The Peace Center a non-profit organization located in Langhorne, Pa. has been working for community peace and social justice since 1982. The programs are designed to help reduce violence and conflict in our schools, homes and communities through a multicultural, community-based approach. They are dedicated to furthering peace by understanding and managing conflict in our community, our nation and our world.

About Arcadia University: Arcadia University is a top-ranked private university in metropolitan Philadelphia and a national leader in study abroad and international education. The 2011 Open Doors report names Arcadia University a top leader in undergraduate students studying abroad. U.S. News & World Report ranks Arcadia University among the top regional universities in the North and as one of the top study abroad programs. U.S. News also ranks Arcadia’s Physical Therapy program 7th in the nation. Arcadia University promises a distinctively global, integrative and personal learning experience that prepares students to contribute and prosper in a diverse and dynamic world. (www.arcadia.edu)